The lesson from *all of this* is clearly “when in doubt, go to a Hot Spring”
– dvo 8.27.20 (to Larry)
When in doubt…
Tag Archives: daveo
Media: Fan-centric filming (MovieSet) / Vancouver Sun, June 10, 2009
Gillian Shaw of the Vancouver Sun newspaper shared the MovieSet story with her readers in an article called “Online and on the set” on June 9, 2009.
The article ran as a full page on the Entertainment section and you can explore two versions online in both the Technology and Entertainment sections. The print edition includes a screenshot of the Behind the Scenes vidcast show with Shaun and Eric, while the online version features a video with Director of Fan Communities Dave Olson giving a tour of MovieSet.com (including Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus).
The article kicks off by asking: Care to wander onto the set of a movie shoot, chat with the actors, see the inside story on the stunts?
Well, do you?
{snip}
The article quotes the erstwhile leader of the “social media renegades,” Dave Olson, who relates the focus on fan participation as the key to traffic growth and enthusiasm for the site, using our recent Death Warrior campaign as an example (links/snippets added):
“It empowers fans to go out and evangelize and start the conversation,” said Olson, who became director of fan communities for Movieset in January, after successful stints at a number of Vancouver digital companies including Raincity Studios where he curated an award-winning blog and helped launch Phones for Fearless, a campaign to support eastside artists and residents.
“The movie business has been slow to come to this style of marketing,” said Olson. “It is bubbling up from the grass roots.”
Movieset.com is a boon for indie films and it’s attracting attention from larger studios.
For small very specialized films, such as Death Warrior, a mixed martial arts film that included livestream video among its offerings for fans, Movieset allowed it to find a core audience that shared a passion for the action film.
“We found out where fans of that genre hang out, we communicated with them in their language and we invited them to take part,” said Olson. “We even gave away the bloody sweatshirt that Georges St-Pierre was killed in to a fan at the end of it.”
Finally, Ms. Shaw’s article outlines some of the other tactics we’ve used to bring movie fans behind the scenes and a call to action for movie makers of all kinds ~ from indies to majors ~ to hop aboard the MovieSet cluetrain:
“The site’s front page is refreshed daily and we’re outreaching to fans through Twitter, a Facebook trivia application and a behind-the-scenes vid cast,” said Olson.
While it still goes against the grain to loosen their grip on content, traditional studios are stepping aboard.
“Studios one by one are starting to realize there is some value here,” said Olson. “They see it is a conversation that is going on and it will go on without them.
“They are saying ‘we should start to participate whether we want to or not.’”
Related:
Dave Olson gives a tour of MovieSet.com
Riff:
Indeed, there are now excellent examples which demonstrate the power of MovieSet’s two-headed monster. Cast and Crew members are employing our tools to streamline their daily workflow, they deliver content directly to their movies page including still photos, videos, news, or blog posts.
Once uploaded, the rich content gives the social media conversationalists an opportunity to reach out to an engaged community of fans interested in the film. Fans then become active contributors by following, supporting and commenting throughout each phase of production. And so on, and so on …
Read the full article: Online and on the set [archived link] by Gillian Shaw (@gillianshaw on Twitter) in the Vancouver Sun, June 9, 2009 –
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Online and on the set Attached as .pdf
Note: Cross posted from: Vancouver Sun Article helps spread the fan-centric MovieSet Vision
See Also: Movieset in Vancouver Sun + Video interview
Media: Slow Train Coming (Cascadia Trains) / Vancouver Courier, Oct. 22, 2008
I was interviewed (and used loquacious quotes like “super lame”) for an article about train travel in the Vancouver Courier.
I am including my quotes and a few other snippets about my pet-rant, ergo: inadequate train travel between here and points south – as well as the photo by Dan Toulguet so it doesn’t disappear…
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Slow train coming
Robert Alstead takes a journey north by rail from California and wonders if Canada’s vanished passenger trains will once again carry us from coast to coast – Robert Alstead, Vancouver Courier Published: Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Dave Olson, who works in marketing for Gastown web design company Raincity Studios, travels six or seven times a year by train, on business and pleasure. “I don’t care for jet travel because of the incredible hassle and huge eco-footprint,” says Olson. Like many, he would take the train more if he could. “I like the pace and not having to drive, I like the rhythm and the scenery you normally don’t see, the rail yards and seashores and forgotten neighbourhoods. I find the train-riding experience somehow charming, even poetic and certainly creativity stimulating,” he says.
However, he complains Amtrak’s evening train south is hardly convenient for trips to Olympia or Portland, seeing as travellers must make an overnight stopover in Seattle. The Amtrak Cascades is also infrequent and often booked up. Amtrak does offer several “train buses” which Olson has found “super lame” with long border waits. He’d rather take the car if there are no seats on the train, although it did mean a $124 parking bill and a chipped windshield on a recent three-day trip to Seattle. “I know we would’ve enjoyed some work or playing cards or meditating on the train,” he rues.
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However, the Amtrak Cascades offers a good example of the difficulties faced in enhancing rail services.
For years, Amtrak has wanted to add a second roundtrip train between Eugene and Vancouver. However, congestion due to heavy freight movement on track this side of the border meant that a new siding needed to be added to allow trains to pass. For six years, Canadian and U.S. officials and railroad owners Burlington Northern Santa Fe had been unable to hammer out a deal over who should pay for the upgrade.
That means that a second Amtrak Cascades has been running only as far as Bellingham. Then in March of last year, spurred on by the onset of the 2010 Olympics, B.C. transportation minister Kevin Falcon announced that he was committing “up to $4.5 million” (reportedly 57 per cent of the upgrade cost) to build the siding.
In June last year, Premier Gordon Campbell marked the new service on the platform at King Street Station in Seattle by exchanging a large symbolic train ticket with Washington Governor Chris Gregoire in a photo op.
The siding was completed months ago. Amtrak is ready to go. But the service hit the buffers due to complications with the Canadian Border Services Agency, which reportedly wants $15,000 per day to clear the train.
Graham says the matter is in the hands of the B.C. government. A spokesperson for the province says it’s a federal government issue. Faith St. John, spokesperson for the CBSA, said she could not comment on the matter “because we are in discussions.” But she did say that “decisions to provide CBSA services at a new location or to expand current services take into account human resource requirements and the ability to provide security and service to the public.”
She could not say when the matter would be resolved.
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Update, the article “disappeared” from the internets (mostly),
Print version of Slow Train Coming
Web version of Slow Train Coming [archived link via WayBack]
Artifacts (youngtime): Dave making words, ca 1980
Diary: Recycling and Styling
After unpacking a load of stuff, had a heap of cardboard and packing paper to haul to the recycling station. So with my adorable pregnant wife in her “Miyazaki Poppins” hat and me in my newly found track suit loaded up in the K-truck (under 650cc mini pickup) and headed out in the “outside world”, ergo:
I am the “K-truck gangster”, just being a boss at the recycling station.
Note: Yes, I am rather excited that the black/tartan Adidas Firebird track suit and Tam o’ shanter arrived in the shipping container, thank you for asking. Continue reading Diary: Recycling and Styling
Character: Workman on Break, with Pipe
After repairing farm equipment since early morn, Winston takes in a bit of sunshine with a pipe on the porch… or something like that
Portrait: Torii at Amatsu Jinja (天津神社北側参道), Tsuchida
Just your pal Dave taking a rock around the neighbourhood. Stopping for sit by a mighty stone/concrete torii gate at Amatsu Jinja north entrance (kitagawa sando) (天津神社北側参道)
Disguise: Greek Fisherman / Olympian
Well I ain’t no Olympian but I can get behind anything… Including the original running track/stadium in Olympia, Greece…
Actually, since I lived in Olympia Washington (#OlyWa) for nine (!) years, I guess I’m in Olympian… And yes, attended two Olympic games so there’s that, but still… No gold medals except for that run of first place ribbons in the science fairs in elementary school and the “Mr. Fun” certificate from Boy Scout Camp…
But yes, this is the original Olympic grounds and me in a Greek fisherman’s hat and tunic, you know, going local with my awesome moustache and specs.
Disguise: Bus rider (with moustache, chops and hat)
My halloween disguise – you’ll never recognize me with ‘stache, chops, cardigan & fancy new hat. Waiting for a bus (i left the house!) off to meet 藤田良子 in hot spring village of Maniwa, on the borderlands of Tottori. Same as it ever was, same as i ever am (except slightly more chubby).
Disguise: Convict with Clown and First Nations Warrior (of sorts)
I ventured out, moustachioed, into the wilds of Guilford complete with my inmate number for easy identification.
Along with brother Dan as a clown, no tears for this one, and brother Bob with some inappropriate cultural appropriation upon which I won’t comment upon further, we would rampage through Guilford Mews condos using pillowcases instead of plastic sacks to collect the trick or treat bounty.
Surrey, circa 1976?
Disguise: Convict and Rockstar
Oh those notorious Olson boys, always up to no good, they make the Duke boys look like saints. This time it’s Dan headed to the brig while I strike my best rockstar pose – indeed my true calling if it wasn’t those pesky musical instruments.
My iteration was a mix of my uncle Randy Bachman and a bit of Elvis who had died on my recent seventh birthday. Hey glasses, big hair, bellbottoms with pom-poms and platform shoes… But oh that pose! Simply says, “I know you’re looking but I don’t care – i’m just here to rock”
Portrait: Interesting Men
Two bearded distinguished gentleman discussing how Ernest Hemingway is vastly overrated.
note: this costume was on deck a couple years ago, but life got weird for me, but in that moment of sadness, I realized I didn’t need to dress up as the most interesting man in the world as i’ve met at least a dozen people as interesting as this fictional dude.